Biodiesel, wind power, solar cells -- those hold out hope for an "energy-secure" future as well as thousands of jobs for Oregonians, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Tuesday.

But spanking-new techno-power isn't enough to solve the emerging energy and global warming crisis, the governor said. Instead, Oregon -- and the nation -- must turn to solutions that are as old as the 1970s.

APGov. Ted Kulongoski delivers a speech earlier this year.

"The single most effective thing we can do to reduce emissions is to create more energy efficiency and be aggressive in our conservation," Kulongoski told an audience at a climate change conference in Portland.

On the same day Kulongoski was pushing for a massive state effort to reduce carbon emissions, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., outlined a federal proposal to do the same thing on a national scale.

Blumenauer said he would back a bill in Congress that would attack global warming while also providing billions of dollars to help provide health coverage to the uninsured. The bill would allow businesses to buy and sell pollution credits -- a system known as "cap and trade" -- in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It also would raise trillions of dollars for the federal government.

Blumenauer said he doubts the bill will make it through the House this year, but he said it will provide a "springboard" for action next year when there is a new president and new Congress.
Kulongoski, likewise, is aiming his proposals at the 2009 Legislature.

"I want Oregon to lead the nation in cutting greenhouse gases and developing clean sources of energy," he said. "What the beach bill and bottle bill were to Oregon in the 1970s, renewable energy will be to Oregon this decade and for decades to come."

He said he will continue to push for new sources of energy. But that's only part of the equation, Kulongoski stressed.

"We must make energy efficiency and conservation the centerpiece of our climate change agenda in 2009," he said. "That is the only way we will succeed in reversing the damage done by global warming."

Among the proposals he is working on is a program to develop "zero emission" buildings, an "energy transparency" requirement that would allow homebuyers to know how much energy a home uses, and a public education campaign to teach residents how to become more energy efficient.